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Doctor Who

"Bow ties are cool" - The Doctor

I love DOCTOR WHO. I love it possibly more than I have ever loved any other television show, and that is one hell of a big list, including the likes of BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. See? True love here. You may have heard the series mentioned here or there on the tele, cos every once and awhile it does make quite the splash here in America. Most notably in 2009, the final episodes of DOCTOR WHO with acclaimed actor David Tennant (Barty Crouch, Jr. in HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE) playing The Doctor and then-relative unknown Matt Smith taking over the role was quite the media spectacle. As Tennant exited, a new creative team took over the reigns of the show, with Steven Moffat, a man loved not only by fans but by critics, replacing Russel T. Davies as showrunner and executive producer Julie Gardner leaving with him. With this new team there came a new direction. And it's these episodes that will be chronicled here at Ramblings of a Minnesota Geek.

I hope that my reviews and my write-up here will entice readers to check out DOCTOR WHO. It's the perfect show. It changes genre every week, it's not stuck to one particular storyline or form; it's ever changing, always unique, always original and clever. I also encourage any DOCTOR WHO fans to comment and discuss the show we love, and hope to have some fun with the upcoming series. Cheers!

What is DOCTOR WHO?

In the simplest terms, it's a time travel show where The Doctor, a 907-year old alien from the planet Gallifrey, travels through time and space saving lives and galaxies on an episode by episode basis. Usually, The Doctor has a Companion with him, a platonic friend who is there to help, share in the adventure, and when need to, keep The Doctor in check. He is The Last of the Time Lords, his race of people from Gallifrey who perished in the Time War, a war with heavy loses not least of which was his entire planet. Alone, powerful, and with his brilliance as his weapon, The Doctor is loved and hated throughout the galaxy. He has his enemies: most notably the Daleks, Cyberman, Sontarans, Draconians, The Master (a renegade Time Lord who is pretty much insane), and the Rani. Also worth noting is The Doctor's ability to regenerate, a ability all Time Lords posses, in which as a Time Lord 'dies', they can change every cell in their body - including their appearance - and be as good as new. New body, new personality, new regenerative cycle, but still the same man. It is said that a Time Lord can only have 13 cycles, however, this is still in controversy and can be challenged.

The series has (technically) 32 seasons [the upcoming Series Six to be the 32nd], first airing in 1963 with what is considered the First Doctor, played by William Hartnell. The show aired consecutively for the next for the next 26 years until 1989 when ratings decline brought about the shows cancellation during the Sylvester McCoy years, aka the Seventh Doctor. Multiple attempts at 'regenerating' the series failed until a cross-joint effort between the BBC and the American channel FOX produced in 1996 a DOCTOR WHO movie, a 2-hour film meant as a backdoor pilot should it be a ratings success. Introducing the Eighth Doctor (and Eric Roberts as his longtime nemesis The Master), the film did not do as well as expected, and the series remained in limbo for years. Finally in 2003, the BBC announced that Russell T Davies (executive producer of QUEER AS FOLK) would bring DOCTOR WHO back as a full-time series for transmission in 2005. Labeled as 'Series 1', this new series brought British sensation Christopher Eccleston (28 DAYS LATER) to the role of The Doctor for one season and his companion Rose Tyler, who departed the following year. DOCTOR WHO was a massive success, and continues to be to this day. David Tennant was the 10th Doctor from 2006-2009, and Matt Smith is now the Eleventh Doctor.

After regenerating, The Doctor finds young Amelia Pond. After striking
up a bond, The Doctor's hears his TARDIS, the time machine, acting all
weird, and runs out to fix it, promising to be back in no time. Fast
forward twelve years when The Doctor returns to not fault of his own,
and Amelia Pond is now a very much grown up Amy Pond. Together, the two
of them save the earth from the alien species known as the Atraxi who
were searching the earth for a Prisoner Zero. Rekindling the friendship
of her childhood, Amy Pond accompanies The Doctor as his new Companion,
providing intelligence, wit, and nice outfits to the mix. The two
predominant themes of the season include: the Pandorica, a mythical
chamber said to contain the most feared trickster of all the universe -
it's opening, but where? There are cracks that seem to follow The Doctor
and Amy around: where did they originate? What do they mean? Why are
they everywhere? The season concludes as DOCTOR WHO normally does:
epically and emotionally, setting the stage for yet another
hard-to-follow season.

Series 6 (Potential Spoilers) will continue to delve into the identity of River Song, the identity of The Silence, and feature new and old aliens and enemies for The Doctor, Amy and her husband Rory Williams to face. Worth noting is one episode written by scribe Neil Gaiman (AMERICAN GODS). Additionally, the series will be split into two: six episodes beginning transmission Spring 2011, with the remaining seven Fall 2011, made due to some sort of game-changing 'shocker' ending at the end of episode six.

Doctor Goodies

And everything you ever wanted to know about DOCTOR WHO. Click the image to enlarge: